Book recommendations from the creators of Unshelved® and their friends.
Learn who we are, how we pick books, and which books we've featured.
Book recommendations from the creators of Unshelved® and their friends.
Learn who we are, how we pick books, and which books we've featured.
I write Unshelved with Bill Barnes. I've worked as a paper boy, auto mechanic, courier, English teacher, operations manager, teen services librarian, and staff development coordinator. I enjoy a wide range of graphic novels and am currently obsessed with the work of Lewis Trondheim, Emmanuel Guibert, Hope Larson, and Kazu Kibuishi. My favorite book without words is Owly: The Way Home & The Bittersweet Summer by Andy Runton. My favorite book without pictures is Ursula LeGuin’s A Wizard of Earthsea.
I'm the artist of Unshelved and write Not Invented Here. I mostly read sci-fi, history, biography, science, and mainstream comics. Whenever went wrong in the past and resulted in an alternate dystopian present, I'm a happy man. I have a small bookcase of favorite books that I re-read every year or two.
Flemtastic grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He frequently made his friends wait to play until he finished the latest Hardy Boys book. The public librarians he trafficked with often had to remind him that he had already checked out the maximum number of books. His path was clear, so he studied English at the University of Washington and then taught high school for 12 years. Faced with reading student essays until retirement, he completed a library certificate. He now works as a school librarian and gets to read good books every day.
He has lives just outside Seattle in the same neighborhood as his parents and sister. He wrangles time out of his intense parenting schedule (4 kids) to golf, play hoops and read. He has an understanding wife who he snagged before his hair loss became epic.
He especially enjoys fantasy novels, though he was caught in the faculty room reading How to Hook a Hottie. He has yet to live that down.
He likes Mexican food, cheap golf courses, thrift stores, Ebay, and driving his convertible with the top down for four days every year. He does not yet have a man cave, but after his kids move out, he is taking over a room with a giant flat screen TV, Barcalounger, and mini-fridge.
I rarely meet a fantasy novel I don’t like. In fact, I always have a stack of books that I’m waiting to read and most of them have some sort of fantasy or magical element to them. I also like to write. It probably won’t surprise you to know that my stories are fantasy, too. I love animals and the wolf is my favorite. While there aren’t any wolves nearby, I am training my husky to do agility. When the neighborhood coyotes are in full chorus, and Kenai tips her nose to the sky to howl along with them, it seems her wolf spirit is still strong. I love that eerie, primitive sound. My kitten, Alice, is usually right with me wherever I am. We live right on the beach, so I spend a lot of time outside surrounded by deer, coyote, otter, birds and seal. What else about me? I am twelve years old. Outside of school, I like to swim and draw.
When I turn the pages of a book, I expect to discover something between the black lettering that strikes me. I want to see the pale yellow leaf drifting on a gust of air, forgotten in the passing of one season into the other. I want to feel the flare of pain when the character’s bread knife slips, and I want to taste the chilly morning air on his or her tongue. Further than that, even, I want to feel the ache of a broken heart or the feeling of contentment after the character has forged his or her first sword. Someway, somehow, I want the story to affect me. No matter whether I am touched by the action, interaction, description, or complexities, this is what I look for in a book. I simply put down a book that does not satisfy that requirement.
I am sixteen years old and the focal point of my attention is placed upon the fantasy novel that I am in the process of writing. I have read extensively into both the fantasy and Sci-fi genres, but there has been a spattering of historical fiction, romance, and contemporary fiction to add diversity.
When I am not writing or reading, I am occupied with my pursuit of a Bachelor’s degree in English. Currently, this manifests itself in the taking of community college courses that will eventually evolve into my associate’s degree.
I'm Gene Ambaum's wife. Yes, that's my real name. I'm a physical therapist. I love Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise, Yotsuba&!, Bone, and manhwa. I prefer audio books, so I don't have to choose exercising over reading. I've written fan letters to Clint Eastwood and Ursula K. LeGuin.
I've been reading books for young people my whole life because they have the best writing. I frequently booktalk to parents, teachers, librarians and students. I love watching them light up when they hear about a book they MUST READ. I am getting my Masters in Education and Children's Literature and serve on the ALA Committee for Notable Children's Recordings. I have two daughters, 13 and 16, who make sure I don't miss any good books, and who agree with me that Twilight is a badly written bodice ripper.
I'm eight. I like armadillos, comics, and video games. When I grow up I want to be a zoo keeper.
(Gigi is Gene Ambaum's daughter. That's not her real name either.)
I'm nine. I like comics, Bionicles, and Legos. I'm a homeschooler and a Bear Scout. My daddy is Bill Barnes.
I'm six. I like dogs and music. I'm a homeschooler and a Daisy. My daddy is Bill Barnes.
I am a second-generation teen services librarian. I've been reading avidly my whole life, but my professional reading focus is on books for the non-reader, since that gives me an excuse to read and recommend books involving poop and boogers. I enjoy nonfiction, especially books on science, history, and weirdness. The television episode that made me cry: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Body, made me scream: Dr Who, Blink, made me laugh until it hurt: Black Books, The Big Lock Out. I also review for Forced Perspective .
I’ve been told that my personality is like a butterfly, flitting from interest to interest without staying very long on any one thing. That has definitely been true in regards to my reading habits... over the years I’ve never stuck with any specific genre or type of book. I like any book that presents a unique character and/or situation, any book that can draw me in so deeply that I stop feeling the passage of time. I live in Colorado and keep as many library cards as can fit in my wallet.
I'm a recovering YA lit addict who has moved on to "grown up" thrillers and mysteries, preferably unabridged audiobook versions. I'm drawn to one-word titles. My other brain-candy flavors include stories about extreme cold weather survival, books set in places I've visited on vacation, and attractive European authors. I've also discovered a taste for anything forensic--I blame my husband, Carl, a forensic pathologist who over shares when he gets home from work.